Remain Calm
by The Duckster
Summary: Ron/Hermione. Missing moment. Ron sits in the common room waiting for Hermione and McLaggen to meet up for Slughorn's Party. Lavender attempts to distract Ron but he isn't in the mood.


**Title: **Remain Calm

**Fandom: **Harry Potter

**Characters:** Ron and Hermione

**Prompt:**Outside

**Word Count:**1839

**Rating:**T

**Summary:**Ron/Hermione. Missing moment. Ron sits in the common room waiting for Hermione and McLaggen to meet up for Slughorn's Party. Lavender tries to distract him but all Ron can think about is how he's suppose to be the one nervously waiting to go out with her NOT McLaggen.

**Author's Notes:** I guess this is both the third in a series as well as a one shot (if that makes sense) All these little prompts are meant as stand alone bits but when I write one moment I just want to write the next from someone else's POV. Their all in the same 'verse though so there are references to bits that we learn in one place mentioned here and there. When all 100 are done I'll probably try and put them all in order but the prompts are planned take place late fifth year summer before sixth year and just after the end of book 7 before the epilogue. I'm not going to write a wedding scene or having kids. I'm just in love with love stories before the couple works it out and so I love R/Hr because there is so much time to play with. They get so close so many times it awesome.

"Bloody Wanker." Ron muttered under his breath unsure if he was talking about McLaggen or himself.

It was 7:15 and Ron thought he could very well go mad. He did his best to be appear calm to the outside world but he couldn't keep his mind on the charms homework spread out on the table in front of him. Every few seconds his eyes would glance toward the girls staircase. _'Stay cool, it's just a Friday like any other Friday... Except of course at this very moment Hermione is getting all dresses up to go out with a bloke other than you. On a date that was suppose to be you.'_

How did he ever let this happen. This was _his_ date. He was suppose to be upstairs right now nervously fixing his hair and asking Harry if his tie was straight. He looked up at the clock again. 7:22. Merlin's beard time was crawling my slowly. This was going to be the longest night in history.

Ron's eyes flicked to the stairwell again only to be greeted with the most miserable sight he could imagine his girlfriend. How he loathed his current predicament. He'd snogged a girl in a moment of stupid revenge because of Hermione's lack of faith in him, well it was a little do do with finding out she'd bloody well snogged the life out of Victor bloody Krum and he was embarrassed about being the only bloke in 6th year. Who hadn't had a proper snog. Even Neville, with his own sister and Hannah from Hufflepuff. The little ball of nerves was getting more than Harry and Ron combined. Not that he felt comfortable referring to his own sister as _'tail'_.

The point was he'd snogged her with out much thought and then by the end of the night he was in a serious committed relationship. Stupid canaries, Lavender had taken him to the hospital wing and upon the influence of a drug induced stupor confessed passionate love for Lavender who had at the time appeared to be Hermione to his addled brain dressed in one of his Chudley Canons t-shirts.

He'd liked that t-shirt but it had gone missing during the summer. He had woken up in the middle of the night mid July to use the loo only to meet Hermione in the hallway wearing, he couldn't believe it, his bright orange canon's shirt and nothing else. The hem of it not even coming mid thigh and her taught nipples pressed against the worn fabric. It had been one of the sexiest things he had seen in his life and enjoyed a good wank moments later in the bathroom.

Lavenders irritating greeting brought him out of his enjoyable memory "How is my Won Won doing today?" She asked as she sat down on his lap. "Oh!" She leaned in closer to his ear and she wiggled purposefully in his lap. "It seems little Won Won is happy to see me."

_'No, he's not saying hello for you.' _Lavender had been eager in all matters of their physical interactions. She had sneaked into the hospital wing after hours while on bed rest from Hermione's canaries and after engaging in a vigorous snog she had moved his hand to cuff her breast while maintaining eye contact with him the whole time. He had to admit it had been a huge turn on at the time, to not have everything be a puzzle for him to figure out. Just for once to have a girl tell him with out any hesitation exactly what it was she wanted from him.

Things with Lavender had been exciting for all of a five days. In those five days she had sucked him off three times in various broom cupboards in the castle, all at times he was sure Hermione was not preforming prefect duties. They had dry humped in his four poster and she had show him her tits in and unused class room. At one point she had attempted to give him a hand job in the library but he drew the line at the library. He had indulged in way to many Hermione fantasies in that library and he would not have Lavender sully that dream for him.

7:28 and he was still sitting staring at the clock as his overly enthusiastic girlfriend practically gave him a lap dance in the common room. He shoved her off his lap and on the empty couch next to him and mutter something about his charms essay having to get done. She pouted for a moment and compained about being bored but he was distracted by Ginny's appearance in the wing chair adjacent to them.

"Aren't you in the slug club? Why aren't you all gussied up?" Ginny looked over at Dean whole seemed annoyed as he sat at a far off table playing exploding snaps with Seamus.

"It was more fun to play fairy god-mother tonight." Ron looked at his sister confused and when she realized he didn't have any clue as to what that meant continued. "Ron you are seriously dumb as a stump when it comes to muggle awareness, you should seriously take muggle studies. The fairy god-mother is the one who gets the princess all dresses up and ready for an unforgettable night with her prince."

"What poor sucker got you as their makeover fairy?" But Ron's question was answered by several gasps and many muttered conversations through out the room. He turned toward the staircase to for his eyes to take it what was both breathtaking and heartbreaking in the same moment. He felt his heart leap into his throat just to have it drop into the pit of his stomach the next second.

He couldn't breath for a moment, he literally forgot how his lungs functioned. She was a vision of perfect porcelain skin and what he knew was a light dusting of freckles along her shoulders. Her curves intimately embraced in a sultry red dress, a color he'd always felt possessive of given his over abundance of it, that made him wish he could wrap his arms around her. Instead of him. Ron's eyes narrowed as the brutish moron put his hands on _my Hermione's, _was that? Did he just bum graze her? He knew that moved, he'd used that move! When you hug a girl, then let your hand drop and as you let go you let his graze her bum before you let it hang back at your side. _'He's a dead man!' _

"Are you okay Ron, you don't look well?" Ginny's voice was all concern but when he looked into her eyes, he knew those eyes. Those were they _'mom let me have a cookie and you can't have one because you took Charlie's broom out without permission' _eyes. She was enjoying this. She was reveling in watching Ron forced to suffer in silence, keeping his outside as un-phased as possible because he was sitting next to his over enthusiastic girlfriend while the girl he was in love with got dresses up for some other bloke.

"I'm fine, thanks for the sincere concern. It's wonderful to know you care." Ron dead panned back to his evil sister.

"You guys are the cutest siblings ever! Caring for each other so much." Lavender blurted out as she wrapped her arm around Ron and ran her hands through his hair. Ginny exchanged a look with Ron that clearly translated to_ 'Is she seriously that stupid?' _Ron just shrugged his shoulders and leaned forward on the couch so the Lavender's weight fell behind him instead of all over him. He wanted to hear this with out her obnoxious little distractions.

"You look hot." McLaggen exclaimed.

_'Wrong classification' _thought Ron. Hot is when a girl looks good but still had a bit of a scarlet woman vibe. Hermione looked classy, the sort of girl you would take dancing not an empty class room for a grope and squeeze. Not because you wouldn't want to, there were definitely a few things he was imagining doing to her if he had the privacy, but you don't because you know she's not that type of girl. She's better than a quick once over in a broom cupboard. Hermione was flowers, she was a long walk around the lake, or a picnic near the pitch. She was NOT a girl that bloody wanker McLaggen got to bum graze!

"Thank you Cormick, you don't clean up so bad yourself." Hermione blushed. _His_ Hermione was blushing over an underrated compliment by that quidditch keeper wanna be.

Then he pulled her close again and kissed her cheek. She giggled and her blush deepened.

Ron dropped his face into his hands, determined not to say anything. He would keep his mouth shut, he would not let anyone see what this was doing to him. He would not give into the temptation to punch McLaggen in the face and insist Ron had in fact been Hermione's date first. He could do none of that though, he could indulge none of the various fantasies vying for attention in his brain. Ron Weasley would sit on the common room couch next to his girlfriend and let the object of every desire he'd ever known as a man walk through the door with another man.

Why? Because he was stupid! He was by far the most monumentally pathetic coward in the history of the world. He wouldn't just man up and confess to his former best friend that he was madly in love with her.

The reasons he had before weren't even relevant anymore! Forget not wanting to ruin their friendship, it was over, they hadn't said a civil word in weeks. Forget making Harry feel awkward because Ron was fairly certain having a pair of best friends who won't speak to each other is pretty awkward. He glance at the girl sitting next to him that was now gossiping happily to the girl on her other side. Was it really Lavender Brown holding him back from going after what he wanted. _Who_ he wanted? If he were any sort of man he would get up right then and take Hermione in his arms and kiss her like he's wanted to, and dreamed of, and fantasized of for years.

Ron got to his feet and stepped forward only to be stopped dead in his tracks. Hermione was having some sort of silent exchange with Ginny and she looked so happy. Her waving curls bouncing exuberantly on her tantalizing bare shoulders. He couldn't do it. He was an unworthy prat who had spent the last several weeks indulging in salacious company of his slutty girlfriend. He didn't deserve her bouncing curls or warm smile and he never would.

He gathered up his things and muttered something about not feeling well after all and made his way up the spiraling staircase.

"Bloody wanker." This time Ron knew exactly who he was referring to.


End file.
